Scholtes leaves City Pages

The City Pages always reports on the sorry state of local media in their weekly blotter. It's too bad there's no one to report on them. Since the City Pages editor, Steve Perry left, they've been leaking talent. In all honesty though, we probably have to go back to when the City Pages and Twin Cities Reader were both bought by supposedly independent Village Voice. They killed the Reader and streamlined the city pages. Revenue is probably up.

Perry had always covered more politics, and done mroe investigations than other VV media. If you've noticed, since he left it's been music feature after spectacular feature like a day in the life of a stripper. There haven't been the same boring features about Roseville politics (that turned out to be interesting). The City Pages has pretty much given up the ghost. They're a weekly entertainment periodical.

My point, Scholtes left now, and there's two mentions of it. One comes via Twin Cities Daily Planet from Minnesota Monitor, and the other from City Pages itself. The Monitor The reporting of the monitor isn't right-on.The writer provides a lot of context and conjecture, however, I think he's probably saying what no other locla media would dare to say. That the management of the CP is driving good people away and replacing them with anyone who will happily toe the line.

"Scholtes' departure adds to a list of familiar bylines that have left the paper this year, a group that includes Britt Robson, G.R. Anderson, Mike Mosedale, Beth Hawkins, Rob Nelson, Michael Tortorello, Jim Walsh and editor Steve Perry."

That's the insinuation anyways.

The City Pages, in contrast, only talks about how sad they are to see him go. No context of course. What affect does corporate consolidation have on media? On formerly independent media? Maybe related is another story I read today about the FCC trying to extend Clinton's media consolidation of Telecommunications Act of 1996.